Killing Me Softly
by foxygirlandracoonwoman
Summary: How can two people who are so alike be so hostile towards each other? Kyo Sohma and Ren Harota are two parts of the same soul yet they fight like cat and mouse. Can the bond between them ever break this natural dislike for one another?
1. Beautiful Stranger

Some people are made for each other. Sometimes love starts out small and grows over time, with careful nurturing. Some love begins strong and remains so through the course of time. And some love, the most fragile kind, begins all in a moment. That moment may never happen again in a lifetime and those two people may never meet again. All they can do is hope and wait for the beautiful stranger to return.

That is exactly what happened to Kyo Sohma three days after his seventeenth birthday. He walked home from school alone; Yuki was busy with the Student Council and Tohru had to go to work. So Kyo took the time to contemplate his birthday. It had been the same as ever now Tohru lived in the house; presents, a birthday meal and a cat-shaped cake. He sometimes wondered if she baked that cake to be sarcastic in some way. Kyo shook his head at this thought, Tohru was too innocent for that sort of thing.

The tall teenager continued to walk alone, hands stuffed into his pockets. He had his head bent so his eyes were upon the pavement that stretched only a metre or so ahead. Kyo found himself then thinking of his training with his Master in the mountains. A small grin curved unbidden over his lips. He really had enjoyed those months. He wondered what the house had been like without him there.

"Nobody missed me I guess" Kyo muttered to himself, uncertain of why he was thinking out loud like that. Usually he kept his private thoughts locked up tight inside his head. Rarely did he dare voice what was truly on his mind. Sure, he had his random outbursts and he let off steam occasionally but more often than not he put up a mask of impassiveness. Only one or two people could ever see past this. Even then he despised letting people in.

Tohru. She was one of the people that tried to understand what stupid things were going on in his head. Only she seemed to truly care... Even then they were just friends. They were each other's shoulder to lean on no matter what. Most people thought he had loved her at some point. This always made Kyo laugh; he loved her still but as one of the select few he considered to truly be a friend.

He shook thoughts from his head and contented himself with humming a song to himself as he walked. He had almost reached the woods when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. Glancing up he saw a girl, perhaps a year younger than he was, strolling along as if she didn't have a care in the world. He did a double take; she was beautiful!

She seemed not to notice that he had paused to observe her as she walked at a leisurely pace in his direction. Kyo smiled a little, wondering if she would see him. He frowned, this was stupid. Why would she notice him? He was just a stupid cat. With a sigh he looked away from her and began to walk on his way once more.

The girl looked up at the teenager infront of her, her startlingly bright green eyes fixed upon him intently. He was so handsome! She self-consciously reached up a hand to push her white hair off her face. Her lips parted as she thought of saying hello to him. Her lips met once more. How could she talk to him? Surely this handsome stranger had no cause to even reply to someone like her. She was just a stupid rat.

The passed each other and for a moment their eyes met. In that moment something would bind them together, something would wrap around each of their souls and hold on tight. Neither knew it yet but they had just come eye to eye with their soulmate. Be this good or bad they kept right on walking.

Why would they talk to me? How can I take a chance on a beautiful stranger?


	2. Beautiful Disaster

Ren Harota bit her bottom lip nervously as she gazed at the front door of a house she had not been in for over a year. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she reached out with one hand towards the door. She paused. Ren simply could not do it. Not after she had left them without much of an explanation. Not after she had not even sent a letter for over a year. How could she face the people she had loved as a family for four wonderful months. She had almost felt she belonged somewhere when she lived with them.

"I can do this" She sighed softly, speaking to herself. She had to find the strength to face them. They would understand. They knew all too well what she was like when she got it into her silly head to do something. Shaking slightly she extended her hand to the door and pulled it open.

Stepping cautiously inside she slipped off her black shoes. Now her jeans fell a little past her feet since the shoes' extra height had previously kept them off the ground. She rolled her bright green eyes before tracing over the steps through the rooms she knew so well. Only one person should have been home at this time; the other would have been at school.

As Ren reached the main room she smiled to see a familiar figure sat at the table with a cup of tea instead of doing work. She walked silently up behind him before slipping a hand over each of his eyes. He jumped a little with fright but settled when he heard her voice.

"Guess who" Ren trilled contently. Shigure reached up and removed her hands from his eyes, turning quickly incase she ran off again. A grin curved over his lips as he gazed up at her.

"Ren... Are you back for good?" Shigure inquired cautiously, tilting his head slightly to one side. He was relieved to see her nod by way of reply. Without thinking he threw his arms around her. As usual there was a band and the customary smoke. When it cleared Shigure was still where he had previously been but now he sported black dog ears and a tail. Ren had changed too. She now had white rat ears and a tail.

"You knew that would happen" she tutted, arms around him in a tight hug. She had missed the perverted dog so badly she thought her heart would break. He was the brother that the white-haired girl had always longed for.

"Yes, but I didn't really care" Shigure shrugged impassively. "I missed you too much. Why did you run off?"

Ren released him from her grip. She frowned a little "Did I have a choice?!" she snapped without thinking. Then she calmed herself a little by mentally counting to ten "Oh hell, what I mean is I... I'm sorry." She paused, biting down on her bottom lip. "I didn't mean to make you worry but I had to leave"

"Don't worry so much" Shigure said with a warm smile. "I know you had to go" He understood Ren very well indeed. She hated people talking about her past and she hated her family's curse even more.

"How long before Yuki gets home?" Ren inquired happily, things were starting to feel normal again. She was glad that Shigure forgave her for disappearing. Strangely enough the dog's opinion meant a hell of a lot to her.

"An hour or so... Speaking of which, are you going to be staying here again?" the older of the pair asked contently. "You're more than welcome to your old attic room. Don't worry, we haven't touched it" He was startled when Ren threw her arms around him once more. She really was like his little sister, a fact that even Aya noticed when he was around them.

"Yay! I love you!" she giggled happily before letting go and darting up to see what condition her room was in. She stood looking around her. It needed a serious cleaning but other than that everything was fine. Ren made a mental note to try on the clothes she had left behind and throw out what no longer fitted her. But that could be done later. For the moment she would just get rid of the layer of dust that was covering every surface.

Downstairs Shigure smiled peacefully, thinking of the returning girl. He knew Ren better than most people did and perhaps this was behind his sighed words. "Such a beautiful disaster.."


	3. Down In Flames

"Shut up you damned rat!"

Shigure sighed as he heard Kyo's loud voice, angry as usual. He shook his head in mock dispair, looking up to see Yuki, Kyo and Tohru enterring the house. Ren was still upstairs cleaning. By this point the dog ears and tail had disappeared from Shigure and now he looked as normal as he could manage.

"You stupid cat, you're giving me a headache" Yuki muttered, irritated by the lack of a mute button on Kyo. The two boys glared at each other whilst Tohru stood looking at them as if she was scared they would tear each other apart. This was more than likely.

Upstairs Ren heard the commotion and frowned as she wondered who on earth could make such a lot of noise so quickly. She recognised Yuki's voice and this made her even more worried. Her friend was usually so placid. What could make him so mad?

Trailing down the stairs she stood in the hallway observing the back of a ginger boy and an unknown brunette girl. With them was Yuki and Shigure. Ren watched for a long moment before stepping into the room, looking concerned.

"Um, what's going on?" she asked. As she spoke Kyo turned around and Ren was startled to see her handsome stranger stood in the same room as her. Her green eyes widened a little but she soon managed an expression of indifference.

"Who the hell are you?" Kyo asked in his usual irritated way, but when it finally registered that this was the beautiful stranger from before he was silenced, staring at her until he collected his senses and opted instead for a smirk.

"I could ask you the same thing" Ren retorted before ignoring him and practically pouncing on Yuki. With a loud bang and a puff of smoke the two teenagers emerged hugging, both sporting rat ears and a tail. Kyo stared in shock. She was... a rat? His heart thudded in his chest. There died every chance he had. She was a rat and he was a cat. Though how this was he did not know.

Tohru had almost feinted with shock at this point. Her eyes widened as she stared at Yuki and Ren who had just released each other from a welcoming hug.

"Um, why do you both have ears and tails of a rat?" she asked quietly. Ren turned to her with a warm little smile since she was in a good mood.

"I'm cursed this way. My siblings and I are thirteen cursed people, like the Sohmas I guess. When we feel strong emotions or when we hug anyone we partially transform into animals. The same applies for the person we hug if they happen to be a Sohma" Normally Ren would not have divulged this information but she saw in this girl's eyes that she knew. This was the gift of the rat; she could read a person's soul through their eyes.

"What if she hadn't known about us?" Kyo snapped suddenly, angry once more. This girl could have just revealed their secret!

"I'm not stupid" Ren said in a visciously quiet tone. She glared at Kyo with venom. With a sudden bang both she and Yuki returned to normal. Yuki looked unamused at he too glared at Kyo.

"Leave her alone you stupid cat" Yuki said threateningly. He always felt protective of Ren. He had seen her go down in flames too many times before. He knew she was more fragile than she let on.

"You're the cat?" Ren asked cautiously, eyeing Kyo carefully. So he was the cat... Now he truly was beyond her reach. Her gaze hardened as she viewed the redhead in front of her. "You are the reason my life is hell!" she spat out the words before turning and running up to her room. Kyo was stunned and livid. Without asking anything he slammed his fist into the wall, bruising his knuckles severely. Without another word he turned and stormed off in anger.

"What just happened?" Torhu muttered, dazed and confused.

"You just met the unwanted member of the Harota Zodiac" Shigure sighed softly. "Let me explain a few things now Ren and Kyo are gone..."


End file.
